The book opens on June 26, 2010, as Didion thinks back to her daughter's wedding day seven years before,

five years after her death.

Remembering that it would have been Quintana Roo's anniversary, the promise evidenced that day causes the writer to reflect on her daughter's childhood, the questions asked and unasked,

answered and unanswered.

Things said eloquently, and the eloquence of things left unsaid. Further reflections are on her own childhood, her marriage,

her parents, their deaths, her husband,

John Gregory Dunne,

and his untimely death from a heart attack two years before

the loss of their daughter.

Questions I think most parents have,

if they are brutally honest with themselves in their

self reflections on the enormity of parenthood,

pepper the book; the "what ifs."

"What if I fail to take care of this baby?"

"What if this baby fails to thrive,

what if this baby fails to love me?"

...and the unthinkable...

"What if I fail to love this baby?"

Didion also writes about coming to terms with her own aging and mortality, affected by time spent saying what would eventually prove to be good-byes to friends and family in ICUs on both coasts; time in hospital with her dying husband, and in and out of emergency and ICUs with Quintana Roo.

I won't spoil it for you by giving you the intimate details of how she came to parent and name the daughter she lost;

About Me

Southern Belle vegan mom to 4 sons, 1 daughter-n-law, grandmere to 1 fantastic grandson, his royal highness King James, 3 cats and a komodo dragon, 7th generation Floridian on my daddy's mama's side; 1st generation on my Mama's side. Rutgers SCARLET KNIGHT alum/fan. University of Florida GATOR alum/fan. Currently living west of the Mississippi, because Houston is one of the best kept secrets in the country.